Football: Who’s the top first-year coach in SoCal?

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It’s week eight of the high school football season, so it’s a good time to ask, ‘Which first-year coach is doing the best coaching job?’

Is it Chuck Petersen of Orange Lutheran? He has the Lancers at 6-1 and challenging for a Pac-5 playoff berth.

Is it Robert Garcia of San Fernando? The TIgers are 7-0 going into a Valley Mission League showdown on Friday against Van Nuys.

Is it Jose Casagran of South Gate? The Rams started the year 5-0 before losing their last three games after a broke wrist to quarterback Eddie Flores.

Is it Russell Gordon of Pasadena La Salle? His team is 7-0 after being 1-9 a year ago.

Is it Scot Ruggles of Harvard-Westlake? His team has won six consecutive games and is 6-1.

Is it Jimmy Nolan of Carson? His team is 1-6 after an extremely difficult nonleague schedule.

-- Eric Sondheimer